Government Takes Closer Look at Google's ITA Acquisition

The Department of Justice has asked for more information to assess Google's acquisition of ITA Software.

CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

Google said Friday that the Department of Justice this week requested more information and time to review the search giant's acquisition of ITA Software, the flight information company.

The government query, called a second request, has become commonplace for big Google acquisitions.

Google announced plans to buy ITA for $700 million last month. ITA's technology could help Google users search for flights, compare prices and eventually answer complex travel questions like "Where can I travel that is sunny, fewer than five hours away and costs less than $500?"

Google said at the time that it expected antitrust regulators to look closely at the deal, as they have at previous Google acquisitions like those of DoubleClick and AdMob. ITA makes software used by other travel sites, including Kayak, Orbitz and Bing.

"While this means we won't be closing the deal right away, we're confident that the D.O.J. will conclude that online travel will remain competitive after this acquisition closes," Andrew Silverman, a senior product manager at Google, wrote in a company blog post.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.